Drum roll…for the first time ever, the American National Standards Institute has, like a benevolent genie, granted HR’s wish for an industry wide widely accepted reporting standard: cost per hire.

Now, not just in the US, but world-wide (what happens first in the US etc) HR folk can run into the streets (or around the top table – it’s designed to be accepted by the CFO after all) with a rubber stamped standard clasped in their hands. A ‘milestone’ according to Lee Webster, SHRM’s director of HR standards.

Don’t get me wrong, I welcome this. I really do. It’s not a cure for cancer, and it won’t turn Goldman’s into Goodman’s, but it’s a start. You can download the 50 page (yes, 50) pdf outlining the research and the standard here. 

And when you do, let me know what you think. It’s not mandatory, so if fancy algorithms still aren’t in your HR tool box (what century are you in?) you can pass. But like I say, this is a start. Up next apparently we’ll have industry standards on job descriptions, diversity, performance management, even measuring the financial value of your human capital. A workforce planning standard is right now available for comment. 

Hat tip to Ere.